


In the Midst of Shadows

by skyfireflight16



Category: Teen Titans (Animated Series)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-02
Updated: 2017-05-12
Packaged: 2018-08-12 12:56:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 15,936
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7935388
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/skyfireflight16/pseuds/skyfireflight16
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"She can never be caught. Always hiding, always on the run. And then she is found, and it is a nightmare."</p><p>Slade has a new apprentice. Or at least, that's what Robin thinks. Why else would a super-powered girl (what her powers are, none of them know) appear out of nowhere, and commit crimes that discreetly (or trying to), without trying to make a name for herself? That has Slade written all over it.</p><p>Seeking answers, the Titans head out to capture this mysterious girl and interrogate her before the police do. It turns out a lot harder than anticipated, on both counts.</p><p>Not to mention, there's something.../off/ about her.<br/>Things are about to get complicated.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chasing Fire - Part 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is set after the "Apprentice" arc, and before "Terra".

 

_Home is behind, the world ahead_

_And there are many paths to tread_

_Through shadow_

_To the edge of night_

_Until the stars are all alight_

_Mist and Shadow_

_Cloud and Shade_

_All shall fade_

_All shall…fade_

_\- Pippin, Lord of the Rings_

* * *

Prologue 1:  _Chasing Fire_ \- Part 1

Five teenagers were gathered around a large screen, gazing at it intently.

 _Newscast: A criminal has escaped Jump City prison. (_ _***** _ _A picture of a girl is shown on the screen_ _***** )_ _The prison break, which happened last night only a few hours after dark, has left the authorities baffled. The inmate, a young girl, was found not to be in her locked cell, with no indication of how she may have gotten out. She was last seen heading into the main city._

_The girl, whose name and origins are not known, was incarcerated earlier this week by Jump City police. Reasons for the arrest are as of now unclear, however the police department tells us that the girl appears to have metahuman abilities and is considered a threat to the city that must be contained as soon as possible. The city's inhabitants are asked to remain calm and alert, and if the girl is seen, to notify the authorities immediately._

_This is Jump City, channel 10 news. Back to you, Frank._

_Thank you, Lindy. The video game industry's sales are at a record high, with the release of Ultra –_

Robin switched off the TV.

"Dude! I wanted to hear about the new video game!" Beast Boy protested, waving his arms in the air.

"Sorry, Beast Boy. We have more important things to worry about," Robin replied, his voice serious.

"Yeah, like how that girl got out of prison so fast," said Cyborg, scratching is head. "Seriously, she was only locked up, like, two days ago."

"It might have something to do with her powers." Raven suggested.

"Or with Slade." Intoned Robin.

"That is the girl believed to be affiliated with Slade, yes?" Starfire questioned.

"We think so, Star." Robin answered. "It would explain the prison break. And the fact that we've never seen her before now."

"You think Slade's found himself a new apprentice…." Raven said, her face thoughtful as she understood what Robin was getting at. "But that doesn't explain how she got here in the first place."

Robin nodded. "We need to figure out who she is and what her powers are. And there's only one way to find out."

"The police are already spread out all over looking for her," informed Cyborg. "If we're going to interrogate her, we'll have to go search for her ourselves."

"Before she does something serious." Raven agreed.

Beast Boy scrunched up his face and crossed his arms. "Yeah, if only we knew where to look."

_BEEP! – BEEP! – BEEP! – BEEP!_

The alarm suddenly blared to life, red lights in the room flashing. The TV screen switched on, zooming in on the point of interest. A young girl, the same one whose face was shown on the news just moments before, was seen ducking out of a building and hurrying into an alleyway. Apparently someone in the building had spotted her and notified the police.

"There's our answer." Robin said. "Let's go!"

* * *

They were at the location in minutes. The girl was crouched against the wall in the middle of the alleyway, obviously trying to use the shadows in a futile attempt to keep hidden. The five teens blocked the entrance of the alleyway, cutting off her escape.

Or so they thought.

Cyborg turned on his shoulder light and advanced a little ways into the alleyway, accidently kicking an empty can with his toes. The can skittered forward into the alleyway and passed in front of the girl in her "hiding place". She jumped up, startled, then slowly turned to face the direction it came from. Cyborg's light shined on the girl, and her eyes widened at the sight of the five superheroes. She took a faltering step backwards, her fear obvious.

Robin was the first to act, bringing out his staff. Starfire and Raven followed suit, their hands glowing with their respective energies. "You're coming with us." Cyborg informed the girl in front of him. "Now, we can do this the easy way, or the hard way."

The girl eyed the Cyborg and the others for a moment, before making her answer clear. In a flash, she bent her knees and catapulted into the air, landing on the roof of a building at a run.

"Titan's, go!" Robin cried. The team burst in to action.

Raven came up through the roof of the building from a black portal, stopping the girl in her tracks. "Going somewhere?" she asked, her eyes glowing under her hood, and her hands surrounded with dark energy. The girl gasped and spun around, only to see Starfire behind her, a starbolt at the ready. The girl then flew upwards from between the two titans, then levelled out, flying away at an incredible speed. Raven and Starfire took off after her, Starfire shooting her starbolts, which the girl easily dodged.

Meanwhile, Beast Boy came after the girl in the form of a falcon, flapping his wings feverishly, trying to catch up with her. The chase certainly wasn't easy. Besides going extremely fast, the girl did not fly in a straight path, but zigzagged all over the place trying to lose the other girls, changing direction every few seconds, up and down and side to side, with a few loop-de-loops thrown in – a way that much reminded Beast Boy of a fly.

Which gave him an idea. The girl was starting to slow down a fraction, so this made his job easier. As soon as he deemed himself close enough, he turned into a fly. Now able to follow her random movements, while at the same time go unnoticed, Beast Boy buzzed after her much more easily. He followed her as she flew upwards, then to the right, then down and to the left, then up again, dodging a flurry of starbolts and random objects encased in black energy. Soon enough he was flying directly on top of her; he morphed into a monkey and landed on her back.

The girl cried out in surprised as the green chimpanzee wrapped its arms around her. She flew lower, struggling to free herself from his grasp. Judging her low enough to the ground to not be seriously hurt in a fall, Beast Boy shifted into a small bear. Rapidly losing altitude with the added weight, the girl spun herself like a sideways top, in a last-ditch effort to get the green boy off of her.

It worked. Not only did the girl's spinning make it really hard to hold on, but her skin was getting really, really, _really_ hot. Beast Boy yelped and let go, turning into a hummingbird in midair before he hit the ground. "Dude…." He muttered to himself.

Although Beast Boy's attempt hadn't gotten the intended result, it wasn't a complete failure. The distraction gave Starfire and Raven a chance to close in in the girl, giving them a great opening to land a strike. The Tamaranian fired a starbolt at the girl, and this time it hit. She yelped as she was knocked out of the air, turning her body in a somersault to slow her descent. The girl landed knees-to-sidewalk, emitting a soft groan.

But she didn't stay there.

In a split second she was on her feet again, racing along the sidewalk until she could duck into another dark alleyway. This particular alleyway was connected to several other alleyways, with many twists and turns and dead ends. Landing at the narrow pathway's entrance, Starfire and Raven paused for a moment and looked at each other.

"We have lost her?"

"It seems like it." Raven replied, as they continued into the alleyway.

Not quite.

While Beast Boy, Raven, and Starfire were following the girl in the air, Cyborg and Robin were trailing after them on the ground, keeping up with the location of their three comrades via communicator. So when the girl ran into the alleyway-maze with Starfire and Raven on her tail, Robin and Cyborg were already there.

Robin and Cyborg crouched against a wall at the opening of an alleyway, and spotted the girl as she ran past them. The two boys looked at each other and nodded in an unspoken agreement. As soundlessly as they could, they turned down the direction the girl had fled and trailed after her. They followed her around another corner, to an alleyway that exited back out into the open. The girl, unaware of Cyborg and Robin behind her, let out a breath and stopped beside a trash bin, resting her hands on her knees for a moment.

Robin nodded to Cyborg, and he powered up is sonic canon and aimed. The girl straightened barely a second later, but only took two steps before she was blasted with blue energy from Cyborg's canon. The blast knocked her sidelong against the trash bin, and she slid to the ground, grunting both at the impact and in surprise.

Robin slid past her to block the other exit, and the other three teens appeared. Beast Boy in flew and morphed back in human form beside Robin, blocking the entrance alongside the older teen. Raven and Starfire hovered above the alleyway, ready in case the girl tried to escape by flight.

"You're not getting away from us that easily," Robin declared. "We have you surrounded."

The girl got up and glanced around nervously, taking in the girls above her and the two boys in front of her. She looked over her shoulder and saw Cyborg blocking her only other escape route. "I'd give it up, if I were you." He said, aiming his cannon at her.

For a moment, she just stood there, surveying the situation. Then, in a flurry of movement, the girl bolted toward Robin and Beast Boy, attempting to slip around them in the small space their lean bodies left unguarded. But she didn't get that far.

With lightning reflexes, Robin blocked her and grabbed her arm, using the girl's moment against her to flip her onto her back. He then dropped over her on his hands and knees; he pinned her shoulder down with one hand, and whipped out his staff and pressed it against her collarbone, effectively restraining her.

That all happened in two seconds.

"So you insist on doing it the hard way." The boy growled. The girl looked up at him with wide, fearful eyes, both teens breathing heavily.

Cyborg deactivated his cannon, and Starfire and Raven came back down into the alleyway. Robin lifted his head to address his team members. As his gaze was now elsewhere, the boy leader didn't notice the eyes of the girl underneath him flash fire-orange.

"Raven," he began, "could you ta – _ow!_ "

What happened next was nothing but a blur of motion.

Robin jerked back from his hold on the girl, as searing heat radiated from her skin. Taking advantage of this, the girl used her arms to fling herself forward, ramming Robin in the stomach with her knees; the boy ended up being knocked backward and slammed onto his back, the girl on top of him, with her knees pressed into his stomach. Before any of the others realized what was happening, the girl rolled off Robin and disappeared.

Robin picked himself up, breathing hard. The other four teens hurried out of the alleyway, looking around for any sign of where the mysterious girl had gone.

There was none. She had completely vanished, leaving a crew of bewildered heroes behind.

 


	2. Chasing Fire - Part 2

Prologue 1: _Chasing Fire_ \- Part 2

"Dude, where'd she go?" asked Beast Boy, voicing everyone's thoughts.

Robin came onto the sidewalk with his friends, rubbing his aching hand. "I don't know." He said, lifting his hand up to examine it. "But I think…she burned me."

"Burned you?" repeated Cyborg. "How'd she do that?" As he was speaking, Starfire and Raven came over and looked at Robin's hand. Curiously enough, it was unmarred.

_Weird._

Beast Boy thought for a second, then piped up. "She did that to me, too, when we were in the air. I was hanging on to her, but then she got _way_ hot, and I had to let go. But it didn't leave any marks, either." He held up his arms in proof.

"Maybe Slade's given her a weapon." Raven offered. She looked up from Robin's hand. "Or maybe it's part of her powers..?"

"And how did she vanish so quickly?" came Starfire's soft voice. "Perhaps teleportation?"

"If she could teleport, I think she'd've done that at the beginning of all this." Raven said.

Robin dropped his hand and looked up at the sky, which was turning pink and purple with the oncoming sunset. "There's only one way to find out. We need to keep looking. Cyborg, Raven, are you guys getting anything?"

Cyborg checked the scanners on his arm. "She's too far away now, man. My sensors are picking up squat." The Cyber-teen turned to Raven. The cloaked girl closed her eyes and held her fingers to her head for a moment.

"I can sense her," she answered, "but it's very faint. I can't put an exact location on it; she's still somewhere in the city."

The group nodded at the information. Robin spoke up. "Alright, team, split up. We have a better chance of finding this girl if we cover more ground."

"And we'll need to hurry." Cyborg said. "The sun's almost down and –."

"And I'm gonna miss the season premiere of _Clash of the Planets_!" Beast Boy cut in whiningly, as if his TV show was the most important thing in the world.

Raven gave the green boy a sideways look. "We just need to get to her before the police do, _and_ before she does anything dangerous."

"Perhaps she isn't as dangerous as we believe." Starfire offered. "During the pursuit, she seemed quite scared."

"Well, it was all five of us against the one of her," Raven answered. "And if she _is_ with Slade, who knows what he's told her about us. It's not exactly a surprise she wouldn't want to get caught."

"Well, then, what are we standing around here waiting for?" Cyborg said. "Let's get a move on."

With that, the teen titans split up and began their hunt around the city.

Raven and Starfire took to the air in the west and east, respectively, scanning the city's skyline and peering down into alleyways. Beast Boy went to the south, alternating between a bloodhound and a bird, with Cyborg tagging along close by. Robing went north, ducking into building and alleyways, and climbing up onto roof tops. As they searched, they kept constant tabs on each other through their communicators.

"Beast Boy to Robin. Any luck?"

"Nothing in the business district. How about you and Cyborg?"

"Cyborg here. I'm not picking up anything either."

"And I am not seeing anything in the area of residences. Raven?"

"The same, Star. Her presence seems to be getting stronger on and off, but I still can't pinpoint it."

They kept on like that for several hours, looking high and low throughout the city for the mysterious girl. But there was still no sign of her.

* * *

It was now night. The sky was cloudless, unusual for that time of year, and stars shone done on the city like thousands of fireflies, all oblivious to the happening below them.

Meanwhile, the five superhero teenagers had practically exhausted themselves in their search, having scoured more than three quarters of the city, often looping back to where they had looked before in the chance that the elusive metahuman had come to that location while they had been gone.

"Alright, titans," Robin's voice came over the communicator. "Let's regroup."

"Well, it's about time!" Beast Boy exclaimed. "My arms are tired, and my nose is all sniffed out."

"Starfire and I are at the rundown apartments on Vine Avenue," came Raven's voice. "It's pretty close to where the rest of you are. And we think we may have found something."

"Got you, Rae," Cyborg answered. "We'll meet you there."

The boys found Starfire and Raven in a back alley between two rundown apartment buildings. Shadows filled the place, and small rodents scurried to and fro from the walls and trash bins.

"Okay, so what'd you find?" Robin asked. The sudden sound of a trash bin lid slamming shut echoed across the brick walls, followed by the squeal of a mouse. Starfire squealed, and Cyborg jumped, signing his shoulder light around.

"Can we make this quick?" he asked. "This place is giving me the creeps."

"Not to mention I missed the season premiere of _Clash of the Planets_." Beast Boy grumbled, crossing his arms.

"You're _still_ thinking about that?" Cyborg demanded, annoyed.

"Alright." Robin cut in, stopping their argument. He turned to the girls. "What'd you find?" He repeated.

Raven pointed to the brick wall behind her, and Cyborg shone his light in that direction, revealing what the girl was referring to. A few long, thick, black scorch marks were seared across the wall, all the same distance from each other, resembling claw marks of some giant creature. "We found some burn marks here." She explained. "They're very recent, too recent to have been a natural fire and be put out."

"And the pattern is most strange." Starfire continued Raven's line of thought. "It is too…perfect. A normal fire would not leave marks in this way." Both girls turned their heads toward Beast Boy and Robin. "Friend Robin and Friend Beast Boy, did you both not say that you felt the girl burn you?"

"Yeah, but she didn't leave any marks." Cyborg said. The boys turned thoughtful as they realized what the girls were getting at. He surveyed the marks along the wall. "You think she could have make those? We aren't even sure what her powers _are_ yet."

"No," Robin agreed, "but it's the only lead we've got. Let's look around some more, and –."

Raven suddenly gasped and whirled around to face the exit.

"Raven, what is it?" Robin asked, all of them now alert.

"She's here."

"Here? Like _here_ , here?" Beast Boy asked. He turned toward Cyborg. The Cyber-teen activated his scanner.

"I'm picking up her heartbeat. Raven's right, the girl's only a couple of buildings down, in that direction." He pointed to the left, indicating the way they should go. The rest of the group nodded in acknowledgment. The teens wasted no time. Hurriedly they ran (or flew) to where Raven and Cyborg sensed the girl was, hoping to get there before she started moving again. Thankfully, though, the girl's location remained the same.

The team emerged from the shadowed back streets into a clearing in the middle of the complex, which was bordered by four brick apartment buildings, one on each side, making it a sort-of square, about 400 feet in perimeter. They all looked around for a second and took in their surroundings. The clearing needed some serious _cleaning._ The place was just full of stuff; bicycle and car parts, scrap metal, trash, wooden planks, and cardboard boxes looked like they were just tossed there carelessly, thrown into large piles scattered all over the place.

They had been led to a junkyard.

The kids looked at each other, most of them having the same look on their faces. Seriously? They were supposed to find one girl in all that mess? Where the heck would they even start? And why would a young villain hide here, in all places?

It was Starfire who voiced that last thought. "Why would she choose such a place to hide?"

"Yeah," said Cyborg, "wouldn't she head back to Slade? Even if she didn't, I'm sure she'd have other, better, places to go." His voice was slightly concerned, suspicious.

The answer came from Robin, as determined as ever. "I don't know why, but right now it doesn't matter. We can figure that out later. For now we just have to find her; that's the important thing…." His voice started out hard, but then trailed off has he looked around, his eyes flitting back and forth as he surveyed the massive heaps of objects that littered junkyard. This was quite a task before them. While Cyborg's scanner told them that the girl was still in the same general location, it didn't tell them _exactly_ where she was.

"How are we supposed to find her in all this mess?" Beast Boy demanded, throwing his hands slightly up in the air in exasperation. "Where are we even going to start? We've been out here for _hours_ , and now _this_? How long is this going to take?" Under normal circumstances, the young green shape-shifter wouldn't have complained so much, but their lengthy, mostly goose-chasing search had left him somewhat irritable – and the fact that this girl had ruined his TV plans just added to his frustration. Just who did she think she was, coming barging into Jump City, disturbing the peace, and sending them on this wild chase? "This is too much trouble! I'm tired, and –."

Raven silenced the boy's complaints with a look and a hand placed softly on his shoulder. " _I_ know where she is." She said. Greatly relieved, the other members of the group nodded in acknowledgement and followed Raven as she wordlessly swept past them, leading them toward the center of the clearing. They quickly weaved through the piles of junk, Starfire flying above them, while Raven, for some unknown reason, chose to remain on the ground.

Upon reaching their destination, Raven stopped abruptly. She pointed with an index finger and mouthed ' _she's in there.'_ In the center of the junkyard, where Raven's finger had indicated, was a much smaller pile of junk, consisting mostly of vehicle part and scrap metal, with a few wooden boards here and there. The blue-cloaked girl soundlessly flew off the ground and landed on top off the pile. "Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos." She murmured. Her eyes glowed simmering white, and black energy encased the top layers of junk in front of her. She lifted them off of the pile, moved them to her right side, and let them clatter down the other side; silence wasn't important now.

Raven stepped closer and looked into the hole, which she had only partially created, in the center of the pile. Peering up at her, eyes wide and whole body rigid, was the girl they had been looking for, making no motion to flee. Finally, after all that chasing, they had found her, cornered her once again.

Yet, as they had learned from their previous encounters, this was no indication that it would stay that way. Yes, they had found her.

But now they had to catch her.


	3. Chasing Fire - Part 3

In a few seconds, it was clear that that wasn't going to be an easy task. As if propelled by a cannon or slingshot, the mysterious metahuman girl unfroze and jerked to life, in one fluid motion propelling herself out of her sitting position. She half scrambled, half flew, out of the debris pile, scattering trash in all directions as she fled.

The five teens turned away and shielded themselves with their arms as plastic wrappers and aluminum foil rained down on them; Raven, being the closest, was rewarded with a foil-covered, half-eaten baked potato, sour cream and all – _Seriously, who puts food in a junkyard?!_ – to the face, much to her annoyance. When it was over, the titans looked up to find….

…that their elusive young villainess had left the scene. Again. The brief, three second onslaught was a long enough distraction for the metahuman to make a break for it, as well as gain a considerable advantage. They spotted the girl already several hundred feet ahead of them, running between the increasingly enormous trash piles, making a bee-line for the border of the junkyard. She made a sharp turn behind a pile and vanished from sight; obviously she was trying to make the Titans lose her trail in this maze of a mess.

_Oh no, not again. Not going to happen. Not this time._

"Titans, after her!"

Robin didn't need to tell his team twice. As a matter of fact, he didn't even need to tell them once. As soon as their target was once again in their field of vision, the young heroes locked onto her and sprang into action, like hunters after prey. Normally, they might not have been so urgent in their efforts to pursue and capture – but this girl was a wild card; who _knew_ where she came from, or how dangerous she might be? Especially if their suspicions about her association to Slade happened to be true.

They needed answers, and this had gone on long enough.

Beast Boy morphed into a falcon and took to the air, scanning the ground below from a bird's-eye-view; he wanted to keep a lookout just in case the ruiner of his day decided to do one of those weird teleporting-disappearing thingies and end up on the other side of the junk yard. Or in a whole other part of the city for that matter. From this height, it wouldn't take long for him to tell if the girl was no longer here.

Cyborg and Robin split up, Cyborg taking the girl's last known direction of travel. The Cyber-teen skidded around the trash pile the girl had disappeared behind, his feet moving at 100% speed. He fiddled with his scanner as he ran, trying to make it tell more than just the girl's heartbeat – which was, understandably, ridiculously fast at the moment – or her general location; anything to make it easier to find her.

Robin, meanwhile, ran parallel to Cyborg, a wall of junk piles between them. He sped toward one of the junkyard exits closest in the direction the girl was heading, with the aim of coming up ahead of her and cutting her off, should she try to escape that way.

Starfire followed the green boy's lead (minus the falcon), giving chase from above. She stayed relatively close to Robin – it wouldn't do to stray too far from each other, after all, especially without knowing exactly what the girl's powers were – with a starbolt powered up and at the ready. It was as much for light as it was for a weapon; the junkyard was dark, and the overlapping shadows of varied lengths – long and dim ones from the four tall apartment buildings; dark and comparatively short ones from the piles of junk – made it even trickier to make things out clearly. Starfire figured the girl might use the tactic of simply hiding and maneuvering through the shadows, counting on being overlooked, and the Tamaranian wasn't about to let that happen.

Raven trailed close to Cyborg, mimicking Starfire in her method of operation. Well, sort of. Raven also searched from the air, her black energy glowing from her hands, but she didn't stick with just that one strategy. She phased in and out of junk piles, should the elusive villainess decide to hide in one again, and tried to reach out with her powers to psychically contact her – which turned out to difficult. The other girl, it seemed, was constantly moving, so Raven couldn't get a proper hold on the connection before it fuzzed out and slipped from her mental grasp.

 _Or maybe,_ Raven thought, _she has strong_ _mental barriers_. It would make sense; after all, making contact with a moving person usually hadn't been an issue with Raven. Intriguing. This sudden revelation added to her curiosity. There was something very strange about this girl, she could sense it – something maybe even a little…off. Just who _was_ this girl?

Or maybe the question was not who, but… _what?_

The answer to this question was closer than the young Azarathian realized. From his long-range view from the air, Beast Boy finally caught side of their mysterious target. The girl was very close to Cyborg, about a couple rows – if they could be called rows – of trash piles ahead of him, weaving in and out, between, ducking behind, and occasionally circling around the piles. She was never in one place for more than three seconds.

Beast Boy looked ahead in the direction she was going; about 60 feet in her direction was an opening between the apartment buildings that she could slip through. It would be much harder to find her if they had to search for her in the dark alleyways once again. From the way she was going, it was pretty obvious that she wasn't aware of that escape route; she had to be caught before she found out about it. Or at least be herded away from it.

Beast Boy lowered himself to the ground and morphed back into a human, but kept up his pace at a run, not slowing down for a second. The chance of finally catching the girl being so close gave the tired boy a new burst of energy.

He wasted no time in informing his teammates. "Hey, Cy!" he called into his communicator, "I saw her! She's a couple rows ahead of you to your left, close by the pile with all those big red car part looking things and the one that looks like two-hill rollercoaster made out of aluminum and soggy cardboard."

As usual, Beast Boy's descriptions were a bit "out there", but Cy, and everyone else, was used to it enough to figure out what he was talking about. "Uhhh…I see 'em, BB." The older teen answered after he had spotted the piles the other boy was referring to.

He was still fiddling with his scanner, and nearly immediately after he said that, he reached a break through. Deftly thumbing the controls in a different combination, he was able to locate the girl's footsteps with his scanner and amply them, matching the sound with their distance and velocity.

 _We should get into more chases more often,_ the Cyber-teen mused to himself jokingly, _if every one results in finding a new use for my tech._ He slightly slowed his pace to a brisk, almost-jog and turned the "corner" of the trash "row" with the trash pile that "looks like a two-hill rollercoaster made out of aluminum and soggy cardboard". Sure enough, the girl was there, just coming out from behind another junk pile in the "row".

She got to the middle of the pathway before she spotted him. She then froze, staring at the other teen steadily coming toward her, momentarily looking like a deer caught in the headlights of a car. She started backing away slowly, and squeaked out something under her breath, which, to Cyborg's technologically advanced hearing, sounded a lot like "Oh, _shoot_."

As the girl clearly showed no sign of surrendering any time soon, Cyborg was all too happy to oblige. He powered up his sonic cannon, aimed, and fired.

"Not literally!" The girl shouted with a squeak, scrambling to duck and avoid the blue-energy blast. She succeeded, then turned her back on her pursuer and took off running.

She sharply turned a corner around another trash pile, weaving in and out of the mini-garbage-mountains of the "row", trying to avoid another cannon blast – which she ducked – as well as lose the Cyber-teen that was on her tail.

This case, she did not succeed. Cyborg was right behind her, determined not to lose track of her again.

Several yards into the chase, away from the pile consisting of "soggy cardboard", the girl tried a different tactic. In her desperate drive to hurry, to get away as fast as she could, the girl swerved right toward a medium sized – at least six feet high – trash pile of the next "row".

She skidded straight through the pile, scattering its contents everywhere. Aluminum foil, empty wrappers, and even gray, dirty, fireplace soot and ashes flew through the air, raining down on Cyborg and everything in the surrounding area within a five foot radius.

Five feet. That's how close Cyborg had come to finally catching the little nuisance.

But now, Cyborg was once again having to protect himself from a messy onslaught, while she, _once again_ , got away from him. He ducked slightly with his arms over his head to shield himself as wrappers and ashes rained down on him. After a mere few seconds, it was over, and he lowered his arms and coughed from the ashes that hung in the air. A mostly empty bag of Lay's potato chips had landed on his head, as if it was quite pleased to give the teen a new hat; Cyborg narrowed his eyes in annoyance, snatched his unwelcome new piece of wardrobe, and flung it away.

When he looked, Cyborg found that much of his arms and legs were covered with soot. He huffed in exasperated indignation and brushed off the offending black substance as best he could – with extra special attention to his scanner of course. He vigorously wiped the screen with the inside of his other arm. Cyborg sighed; all he really accomplished was smearing the screen with a translucent layer of black. Ah, well – at least was clear enough to see through. He would have to give it a more thorough cleaning once they got back to the Tower. Speaking of which…

 _Time to get some more back up,_ Cyborg thought.

He activated the communicator built into his arm and contacted Robin. "Yo, Robin! I need more back up! I think that exit's safe; we need you over here. I almost had the little nuisance but she pulled the throw-trash-everywhere trick again," he said irritably. He sent Robin the location and the current direction the girl was heading.

"On my way," came Robin's reply.

Meanwhile, said little nuisance was madly scrambling out of the pile and to the other side. The girl's clothes, arms, and legs were partially streaked with soot, but she barely gave herself a glance before completing the U-turn, putting a "row" of trash piles between herself and the other teenager. Her appearance wasn't important now.

What was important now, as far as she was concerned, was escaping.

She set herself at a brisk jog, rather than a run – she was tired, and thought that her scattering the trash at Cyborg had once again been enough of a distraction to gain a good amount of ground, as well as a chance to catch her breath, before she had to start running and maneuvering again.

Wrong.

While Cyborg had been distracted by the trashy bombardment, one teen titan had not. Raven, as mentioned before, had been staying close to Cyborg, keeping a close eye on the girl's movements. The girl was unaware of the blue-cloaked teen watching her from her hidden pocket of dark energy. Only for a moment, that is.

The girl barely made it five feet before she was blindsided by a blast of dark energy. She pitched to the side and was thrown backward three feet before landing on her rear with an "oof!" She wasted no time in scrambling to her feet, breathing heavily and shaken from the unexpected attack.

Her mysterious assailant made herself known; Raven phased out from inside a nearby trash pile, her eyes glowing white and her hands surrounding with glowing – how did something black glow? – dark energy. "You should know by now that you can't get away from us that easily." She hissed to the frozen, wide-eyed girl.

As soon as she said that, the girl whirled around and ran. So much for the break. Cyborg had long since recovered and now was, too, giving chase. The girl skidded to the side, nearly colliding with a fresh batch of moldy grill left overs, just barely missing an energy-cloaked object. She ducked a blue-cannon energy blast, turning again between trash piles, only to scarcely avoid being creamed in the side by what appeared to be an old, rusted, dented, ice-cream maker.

Creamed by and ice-cream maker. If not for the situation – being busy avoiding capture by five superheroes in the middle of the night – the girl would have laughed.

As it was, she was doing good to be keeping enough breath just to stay moving. And the girl's problems were only mounting – a new pursuer for her to worry about had now just entered the scene.

The young villainess let out a shriek-squeal and threw herself forward and rolled to the side, nearly getting trapped by an energy-cloaked cardboard box coming down from on top of her. As she rolled herself upright and prepared herself to keep running, her breath coming in heavy gasps, she found herself facing Robin; the boy was in front of her in a fighting stance, his staff held out in front of him, ready take her down or fight her in doing so.

Well, the girl was going to make it clear to him what she thought of that.

Robin wasted no time in putting his weapon to use. He lunged at the girl, his staff raised to land a blow. The girl bent backwards and extended one arm more-or-less fully out in front of her, with the other arms raised at her side, bent at the elbow, in defense, to try and block the attack that was coming at her.

And then – impact.

The boy superhero's weight knocked her to the ground. But the blow never landed. The girl caught the staff in her outstretched hands before it could. The boy loomed over her and pressed downward against the staff, which was gripped firmly in all four of their hands. If he couldn't strike her, then he could at least pin her down. The girl underneath him gasped – both from the impact of hitting the pavement and from the effort it took to keep the staff away from her. The girl's arms slightly shook with exertion. She was clearly tiring.

Now if only Robin could keep at this long enough to tire her out completely, until she gave up of out of exhaustion or the others came to overwhelm her with their numbers – it was only one to one right now, after all.

That's when the girl's eyes flashed fire-orange.

" _Ow!_ " The boy hero barely had time to glimpse the change before the staff, and wherever he happened to be touching the girl, became unbearably hot. Caught off guard, Robin had just only let go of the staff when the girl kicked his legs out from under him. The girl shifted to the side, causing Robin to sprawl forward directly onto the concrete. He caught himself with his hands. Robin winced as his palms scraped against the rough surface.

As he fell, the girl dropped his staff next to him, which hit the pavement with a soft clang. Robin heard the girl's footsteps and turned his head to her running away, her back to him. Robin scrambled to his feet and scooped up his staff from the ground. He chased after her, clutching his staff in one scraped hand, just for the girl to turn behind a medium sized junk mound.

As he ran, a thought briefly flickered through his mind. _Why had she left the staff there for him to take it and possibly use on her again? Wouldn't the logical thing to do, in her situation, be to keep it from him?_

When he caught up and turned the corner, the girl was gone. Somehow she had managed to outmaneuver him again. That, or she pulled whatever trick that let her disappear from the alleyway earlier today. His target was out of sights, if only for the moment. Before continuing, Robin paused to catch his breath. Down the "aisle" of tall trash heaps, the ground was cast with eerie, crisscrossing shadows, and no more than five yards in ahead, the path vanished altogether.

The young boy reluctantly moved his feet forward – he knew he had to find that girl. If she had any connection to Slade _at all_ , he – they – _had_ to find out what it was. Pushing himself into a brisk jog, Robin found himself momentarily distracted by the ten – bordering on fifteen – foot tall piles of garbage and debris that loomed over the path.

Was it just him, or was the night getting darker?

* * *

 

Above him, Beast Boy saw when the girl got away from Robin. He had turned back into a bird – and eagle this time – shortly after the girl had gotten away from Cyborg. He had caught up with the older teenager, who had told him in a grumbling tone that mirrored Beast Boy's own feelings about the situation, what had happened. After a brief chat to figure out where Robin and the girl were headed, Beast Boy flew off, figuring it would be more efficient to search for and keep tabs on her from the air.

He saw her turn around the trash pile and slip between two others that lined the path, then cross into another "row". She was now crouching in the dark twin shadows cast by the two – ridiculously tall, in Beast Boy's opinion; seriously, who ran this place? – garbage mounds. The girl was clever; she had chosen well. She practically melted into the darkness of her hiding place. If it weren't for his aerial view, he wouldn't ever have seen her.

Beast Boy noted that the girl was looking forward and around, not up. Now would be the perfect time for a sneak attack.

Beast Boy glided silently, as to not alert her to his presence. When he was positioned directly in front her hiding place, he swooped into a dive, morphing a few feet above the ground to land on his feet as a human. The darkness between the two piles obscured the girl from his view, but he didn't need to see her; he already knew she was there. He sensed no movement from within the hiding place, so he guessed she didn't think he saw her.

That was about to change.

The green boy turned into a ram, lowered his head, and ran headlong in between the piles. He felt something soft collide with his forehead, heard a startled half-grunt-half-cry, and then suddenly burst out from between the piles and back into the – mostly dim, but shockingly different from the pitch black of the space – light. He blinked a couple of times, then lifted his head.

The girl was sprawled on her back three feet away from him. Beast Boy morphed back into a human. The girl groaned softly and lifted herself into a sitting position, with her knees bent and the rest of her weight leaning on her hands. When she saw Beast Boy, she gasped and scuttled backwards about a foot.

The boy in question crossed his arms and leveled his gaze at the girl, who eyes were wide in fear. "Remember me?" He asked in a flat, no-nonsense tone, much unlike his usual manner of speaking.

The girl slowly, barely perceptibly shaking, stood up to her feet. "Y-yes." She answered him, her voice catching slightly.

Beast Boy hid his surprise; he hadn't expected the girl to answer him. It's not like she had been especially talkative, after all.

But now was not the time for small talk, anyway.

Nor was it the time to let that girl get away again.

Less than a second later, without any further words, the girl was running off down the trash row-aisle-path-thing, dashing like a lightning bolt, fleeing from the green hero like prey from a predator.

She didn't see Beast Boy turn into a large bear behind her – a better form to catch her in, he figured, plus the thick fur would protect him in case she tried to use the burning-hurty trick again.

Although why she stuck to running and didn't just fight was beyond him.

Beast Boy was about to seriously regret having that last thought.

The girl whirled around when she heard the heavy footsteps of a bear running towards her. She scurried away even faster, to the side this time, hoping to get out of his path and that his size and speed wouldn't allow him to change directions soon enough. But Beast Boy was quick and agile, even as a lumbering bear, and he followed her every move, gaining on her with each stride. She quickly looked back at him, and one glance at her wide, frightened eyes told Beast Boy that the girl knew there was no hope, that there was no escaping this time; she was going to be caught.

In a matter of seconds he had caught up with her, backed up –essentially cornered – towards a 12-foot tall garbage pile of aluminum foil wrappers and whatever else; he loomed over her on his hind legs, coming down, ready to either catch her in his huge paws or knock her out with them, while she looked up at him in horror, fear and desperation and panic – for heaven sake, she looked close to tears, almost; why didn't she just _fight_ him instead of stand there? – familiarly evident, written all over her face and in her glowing eyes.

Wait. Glowing eyes?

He barely had time to register the thought, for the light, as before, was simply a herald of something greater.

Only this time, it was much more.

The girl raised her hands up toward him. And out of them came red. Hot. Searing. Curling.

_Flames._

"Ah!"Beast Boy yelped in surprise and pain as he quickly stumbled back, away from the sudden fire bursting from the girl's hands, morphing back into a landed on his rump and rolled onto his knees, cringing, hands raised instinctively to try to protect himself.

_Dude, what the heck?!_

Flames dissipated nearly as quickly as they came. Beast Boy opened his eyes and checked himself over. His sleeves and the front of his uniform were singed, but he was otherwise unharmed. Beast Boy looked up and caught the gaze of his attacker.

The girl stood a good five feet away from him, her muscles tense, arms and legs spaced apart in a defending stance, ready to fight. Her eyes stared at him with a fearful, wild look. A distant streetlight shone on her at an angle, and her skin appeared to glow and glimmer in the dim light. Both teens were panting heavily, their skin shiny with sweat.

For a split second, as he stared at her, Beast Boy didn't know what to do. He'd thought he was prepared, the girl suddenly turning and fighting with this kind of power caught him off guard. If this girl could produce fire at a whim, then she was extremely dangerous, and they were up against more than they originally thought.

But of course, that had never stopped them before. And it wasn't about to.

Beast Boy slowly stood up, keeping his gaze locked on hers, and hurriedly tried to think of a plan. He couldn't fight fire, not without risking getting burned. Not of them could, except maybe the girls. And that was a big maybe.

So how could he fight this girl? What was a good defense against fire?

The gears in his head clicked and the most obvious answer hit him.

_Water! Of course._

And they were smack in the middle of an apartment complex. However run down it was, it should have a hose or at least a water spout-faucet-something-or-other. Maybe among all of his techno-gadgets, Cyborg had something that could enhance the water spray.

 _Or we could call the fire department,_ he joked to himself. But of course, that would also bring the attention of the police, once they explained the details of the fire "emergency", and that was not something any of them wanted.

Least of all the girl, but it wasn't as if they actually cared what she wanted right now.

He finally stood up to his full height, still holding the gaze of the girl's. Funny, she still didn't seem to be in a hurry to fight. The girl looked tired out, if anything. Her body quavered slightly has she held her defensive stance, and her breathing was a little bit shaky.

The gears continued turning in the young green hero's head. He didn't have water with him now; he would have to find it first.

Beast Boy tore his eyes away from the girl's and dashed away from her, down the aisle, heading to an apartment wall to find that water hose/spout/faucet/whatever – no sense trying to catch her with that weapon up her sleeve.

Suddenly, she was right in front of him. With a yell of surprise, he stopped in his tracks, skidding to a halt. _How the heck did she do that?!_

His thoughts briefly went to her sudden disappearance from the alleyway.

Well, no way was he giving her a chance to make him Roast a la Beast Boy.

The girl thrust her arm out in front of her and shot a blast of orange flames directly at him. He morphed into a bird and flew up from the ground, just barely avoiding getting hit. The orange flames curled a centimeter under his feet - almost brushing against them, close enough for him to feel the heat and cringe – before going out two feet past where he'd been standing, then dissipating.

He flapped his wings and flew higher, and flew toward the girl, squawking. If he couldn't fight her, then he could at least distract her and catch her off guard long enough to get a good distance away from her, contact his friends, and get to work finding that water hose.

Beast Boy swooped down on her, claws outstretched. He flapped his feathered wings I her face and pecked at her hair, cawing and squawking. The girl cried out in protest. She squeezed her eyes shut to keep the feathers out of her eyes and ducked, her arms over her head. She tried to back away from him, to no avail, and pushed her arms out with her palms spread flat to try to fend him off, with the same results.

Beast Boy's plan was to attack her long enough to disorient her and fly off, but he didn't get to go all the way through with that plan.

While he was still pecking at her, the girl succeeded in putting about a centimeter of space between them. A split second opening.

That was all she needed.

Fire blasted from her hands, the orange flames curling and pluming out between Beast Boy and the girl. Beast Boy cawed shrilly and hurriedly flapped away, the flames fanning out with the added air his wings gave them.

Beast Boy flew upwards, a few feet away from the girl and her fire. The flames dissipated – for the most part at least. Some fallen sparks landed at the base of nearby trash mounds; small fires sprouted from them, giving off a quiet crackling.

The girl stared up at him, something unreadable in her eyes. Beast Boy flapped in place, looking back down at her. They stayed that way for the space of a moment.

Then the moment vanished.

The girl outstretched her hands and blasted flames up toward him. Beast Boy fled, flying away from her as fast as he could. He could hear the pounding footsteps of the girl running after him, and the _fffwooommfff_ of the fire rushing toward him.

He had to get way and call for back up.

He morphed back into a human and hit the ground running. "Mayday, mayday!" He called into his communicator in a panic – which he would later be somewhat embarrassed about. As soon as he explained his water idea and that he need someone to get the heck over here and help him, he closed his communicator and put it away. He ducked a blast of flames and decided quickly that he'd probably be safer up in the air.

He jumped up and turned into a bird, flying a couple of feet higher than the nearest tallest trash pile – which was about 15 feet (for Pete's sake, that was ridiculous!). He figured that should be out of the girl's firing range – literally.

That was until he heard the roar and crackling flames from the behind him, and felt the near blistering heat in the surrounding air.

He looked back and saw that the girl was right behind him.

Beast Boy mentally kicked himself. How could he have forgotten? She could fly!

Now the roles were reversed, and Beast Boy was being the one chased.

He flew in and out and over trash piles, the girl right behind him. She kept shooting fire at him right and left, a steady stream of oncoming flames that he had to constantly avoid. Stray sparks, and full-on fire streams that he'd gotten out of the way of, ignited garbage piles, leaving a trail of burning bonfires in the teens' wake.

This was a huge help to those who were trying to follow them.

Beast Boy ducked and turned to the side, just narrowly missing being fried by to simultaneous fire blasts. If he was in dog, or even human form, he would be panting. As it was, he was becoming exhausted, and his wings ached with each flap.

They were now flying close to the brick wall of an apartment building. He flapped both wings hard at the same time, flying above a fire blast that curled not inches below him.

Then he heard a voice that was music to his ears.

"Beast Boy!" came Starfire's call. She and Raven swooped from the air, with Robin and Cyborg in tow on foot (no pun intended).

Beast Boy narrowly avoided another fire blast from behind. A second later, he heard a blast from a starbolt, followed by a thud.

Starfire took careful aim, powered up a starbolt, and fired. It hit its target.

The girl was knocked into the wall. She slid to the ground, unconscious.

Beast Boy morphed back into a human and landed. The rest of the team gathered around the unconscious girl. They were all thinking the same thing.

_Finally._

The faint sound of fire truck sirens could be heard. Four pairs of eyes turned and glared at Beast Boy. The boy in question turned to look at the junkyard; at least on third of it was up in flames. And it was partly his fault.

"Heh heh…"he said sheepishly. He rubbed the back of his neck. "At least we know what her powers are."

Robin sighed and looked back at the unconscious girl laying on the ground. The sirens were getting louder. The fire trucks would be here soon.

"Let's just take her to the Tower."


	4. Prologue 2: Questioning

She looked so fragile in his arms.

That was one of the thoughts that went through Cyborg's mind as he carried the girl – which they had _finally_ captured – through the Tower.

After that whole ordeal, the five teenagers were dirty and exhausted. They were all ready to ditch this girl in a holding cell, take extremely-needed showers, and get the heck to bed.

Especially Beast Boy. The whole way back, he had been sure to let the team and whatever creatures that may have been lurking in the empty streets know that if he didn't go to bed before sunrise, it would _seriously_ mess with his afternoon nap that day.

 _At this rate_ , Cyborg had thought, _we'll all be sleeping 'til noon anyway._

As it was, Beast Boy getting to sleep didn't take long at all. When they had gotten into the Tower, Beast Boy had been dragging his feet, head hanging low.

The perfect show of being dog-tired. Literally.

Barely a few steps into the door, Beast Boy had plopped down right there on the floor and curled up as a puppy cockapoo. Starfire, ever the kind one, came up behind him and scooped up the fast asleep green puppy, looking down at him with a mixture of sympathy and concern.

Cyborg totally agreed with the little guy.

Robin had sighed. "Let's just get her in a holding cell. It's been a long night. We can deal with her in the morning." The masked teenage hero must've been _really_ tired to say _that_. They all knew how he got when it came to anything associated with Slade.

And so now Cyborg was carrying the girl down the halls of the Tower, on his way to putting her in a holding cell for the night.

Now that all the running and chasing and fighting and being pummeled by trash was over, and they were in a place that actually had proper lighting, the gears in his brain could slow down a bit and take in things with clear detail.

Going back to that first thought.

Now that he got a good look at her, it was hard to believe the girl could be so powerful.

Well, dynamite did come in small packages.

The girl was small, very small – even smaller than Beast Boy, and that was really saying something, considering the size of the little grass stain. And while from the first time they'd known about her, they'd all figured she was a teenager like them, now Cyborg wasn't so sure. She looked no older than 11 or 12.

Her standard brownish-orange jail uniform was just a little bit too big for her, and was ripped and tattered in several places. Not to mention filthy – covered in soot, dirt, and who knows what else. Her brown, curly, shoulder-length hair probably would've been longer, and prettier, too, if it weren't such a grimy rat's nest, so full of tangles and knots. Like she had been running around in a trash heap.

Oh, wait. They _had_ been running around in a trash heap.

The girl had light tan skin, of which could be seen wherever it wasn't covered in dirt or soot.

…or injuries. Small, scabbed-over cuts could be seen on her arms, which were littered with bruises as well, and a few small blood stains were on her sleeves.

 _Maybe I could get Raven to look at those in the morning_ , Cyborg thought. It wouldn't do to let her get an infection; her being a criminal was no excuse for that.

And now here she was, sleeping all but cradled in his arms, looking more like a child rescued off the street than the criminal she was.

So vulnerable, so helpless.

But looks could be deceiving. Someone who could fly and disappear and shoot fire from her hands for crying out loud certainly wasn't helpless.

But still.

He knew that the girl was associated with Slade, but other than that, he didn't know what to make of her.

Neither did a few other members of his team.

* * *

Raven really didn't know what to make of this girl.

There was something odd – _off_ , almost, even – about her. And that was saying something, considering they were a band of misfits themselves – in the highest sense of the word.

There were still so many questions.

What _was_ she? A flyer, yes –like her; a teleporter, perhaps; and a flame-thrower. But those were all just _abilities_.

They could just be a result of something else. Like with herself; Raven could fly, and teleport, and use magic. But that didn't make her label "Flying-Teleporter-Magic-Girl".

The only reason she had powers was because she was a half-demon. That's _what_ she was.

So, just what _was_ this mysterious girl?

She could be human.

Or she could be…something else.

And then was another thing. Something that Raven also found unsettling. The girl appeared to have strong mental powers. Mental _blocking_ powers, to be more precise. Most of the time, people, even super-powered people, didn't automatically have strong mental barriers. Especially not ones that could throw _her_ off. Things like that had to be built up.

Which led to something else. Building up mental barriers wasn't exactly something one did as a hobby. There had to be a reason for it.

And Raven didn't like it. The only reason someone would deliberately build up mental barriers was to keep something, or someone, out. To cope under a large amount of stress…or to hide from trauma.

Raven blinked at that last thought, and sighed as she laid her now sour-cream-free head down on her pillow.

She could think more about that in the morning.

But still…

_What had happened to that girl?_

* * *

Robin was itching to question this girl, now that they had finally caught her, and get the answers he so desperately wanted.

But they were all so tired, including him – and the girl was unconscious, so they wouldn't be getting anything out of her right now, anyway – so he'd sensibly decided to wait until the morning. After they'd all gotten good night's rest.

But seriously, who _was_ this girl? And how did Slade get another apprentice so quickly? Robin couldn't help a slight bit of guilt pass through him. If he'd stayed as Slade's apprentice, maybe this girl would have been spared.

That was a _huge_ maybe.

But it was a foolish notion, anyway. The way the girl had attacked Beast Boy…she would have gone with Slade anyway.

 _Slade._ The very name made him bristle. Oh, how he hated that man.

And now that this girl had shown up, he _really_ needed to get more information. He needed to know where he was – no doubt his hideout had been relocated – and what he was planning. He certainly was up to something –

 _Slade was_ always _up to something –_

– and the public appearance of his new apprentice proved it.

But…a small doubt prickled in his mind, flickering like a small version of the mystery girl's flames.

There was a small possibility that she _wasn't_ with Slade. Emphasis on _small_. Villains didn't just appear out of nowhere like that. Not without trying to make a name for themselves. And this girl certainly hadn't been trying.

Then, _why_ was she with Slade? Robin thought back to when he'd been Slade's apprentice, and even convinced his friends for a short amount of time that he'd gone and turned bad guy. He hadn't though – not willingly. He'd only done it because he'd had to, to keep his friends safe.

Could that be the case here? Was this girl in trouble like he had been, forced to serve him through blackmail?

There was only one way to be sure.

And either way, Robin needed to know what Slade was up to, and where he was. To put that evil man in jail once and for all.

And it began with this girl.

* * *

_Fear. It consumed her and choked her at the same time. Smothered her like a thick blanket, like exceedingly dense smoke. Pressed hotly against her skin, pushing itself down her throat and roiling inside her body._

_Fire. Heat. Too much heat. It was so hot hot HOT. Too hot. It was burning, BURNING,_ BURNING.

_Her skin felt like it was on fire. And it hurt, it hurt, IT HURT._

_Wait. No. That wasn't right. Heat wasn't supposed to bother her._

_But it did._

_The Fear pressed into her again, demanding to be paid attention to, exponentially escalating into panic. Panic. PANIC. She couldn't breathe, she couldn't see._ What was happening?!

_All she knew was the searing heat, coursing down her veins. She could swear her blood was boiling, her skin being charred and peeling like wood._

_Hot tears escaped her eyes, only adding to the pain as she gasped and choked, desperate for air._

_Make it stop,_ make it stop, MAKE IT STOP.

_And then…._

_Cold._

_The heat was gone, just like that. As if it had never been. Replaced with a chill that came out of nowhere._

_Now suddenly everything was cold. She could swear that if she was able to see, she would be able to see her breath._

_The coldness felt so good after the blazing, burning heat. The refreshing wave soothed her scorched body. Her eyes slowly started working again. An image blurred in front of her, tinted a light, water blue, then became clear._

_She instantly wished she'd remained blind._

_She was in a cavern. Stone colored so dark it was almost black, but not quite black. The walls curved high above her, coming together to form a ceiling ascending at least a hundred feet. Lava, magma, molten rock – shining bright red, orange, through black liquid stone – bubbled below in a moat just underneath the walls. The moat completely circled the edges of the room._

_A figure. Then another: two figures in all. She recognized them both, though she could only see the inky black silhouettes of their shapes. They were on the far side of the room, illuminated by the fiery glow cast by the molten lava._

_Her heart leaped when she saw one of the figures. She wanted to go to him, but she could not move. No matter how hard she tried, her muscles would not obey her. She was fixed in place in the middle of the room. Like a statue._

_Then the figure fell. Down, down, down, into the deep pit at the edge of the wall. Down, down, down, into the consumingmeltingscorchingdeadlyHUNGRY lava. A surreal muffled-sounding scream came from the figure that was falling, falling, falling, to his death._

_Above him, safely on solid ground. The other figure laughed, loudly, maniacally, the sound echoing through the large chamber._

_A second scream, higher pitched. The fallen figure was consumed, no more._

_Then red and orange filled her vision. Everything exploded, and all was fire and anger and pain and RAGE._

"NO!"

She jerked awake with a gasp, flying into a sitting position. Her heart beat rapidly in her chest. She took deep breaths to calm herself down. Her heart beat finally slowed. She let herself gently fall back onto the bed she was laying on, the pillow and sheets slightly damp with sweat.

This wasn't the first time she'd had that dream. But it never got any less frightening. A major reason for that was because, well…it wasn't just a dream.

Nightmares that included memories were the worst kind.

The girl rolled over on her side. She glanced around the room, taking in her surroundings. She was in a small, white room about half the size of her small-ish bedroom back home.

There was a wooden door, also white, right in front of her, toward the top of which was a window. However, she couldn't see out of it. The only furniture the room had was a small table scooted up against the wall and the bed she was lying on.

 _They must've put me in a holding cell_ , she thought.

She glanced down at her arm and noticed that her bruises and cuts were gone. Apparently one of them had healed her during the night. That was nice.

Then it registered. _She was in a holding cell._

_She had been captured._

_Oh, no. No, no, no, no._

This couldn't be happening. This was what she had been trying to avoid all along. She turned her faced into her pillow.

If they had caught her, then…

_Oh, this is bad, this is bad, this is so bad!_

But maybe this was a good thing. Maybe, just maybe, this could help her.

But probably not.

Her thoughts turned to him. She fingered a bracelet hidden in a fold under her sleeve. At least he was safe. At least, she prayed he was. Hopefully he was far away from here, or at least well hidden. He'd been so kind to her. She couldn't bear the thought of him being captured by them.

 _Them._ She shivered.

First, she'd only heard about them. Known enough to know that she needed to run, to not let them find her.

And then, she experienced it. Met them first hand.

Though she was loathe to admit it, she knew she had to, at least to herself.

She was scared.

The rolled over on the bed to face the wall. She had no idea what time it was. Though, if she had to guess, she'd say it was still night.

No doubt they'd come for her first thing in the morning. She wondered what they'd do.

Her stomach filling with dread, she forced herself to try and go back to sleep.

No point in making yourself sleep deprived worrying over something that was going to happen either way.

Best be as well prepared for it as you can.

Slowly, but surely, the child fell back asleep.

* * *

"I'll ask you one more time, _who are you?_ "

At 9:00 in the morning, Robin had shot out of bed, having quickly recovered with no traces of exhaustion from the night before.

Of course, the newly captured apprentice of Slade probably had a lot to do with it.

After a quick breakfast, he and a few others – Beast Boy was still in bed, having threatened to turn into a goat and eat all their socks if they made him get up before 10:00 a.m. – dragged the girl out of her holding cell and into the interrogation room.

Not before putting some fire-proof handlocks on her, of course.

Now the young girl sat in the metal chair, fireproof cuffs securing her arms to the armrests. Cyborg had no idea how hot her fire could get, so he took extra precautions and got the most heat-resistant material known to mankind.

Robin was in front of her on the other side of the table. He'd been at it for at least two hours now, grilling the girl with questions – _who are you, what is your mission, what is your association with Slade, where is he hiding, what is he planning next, why are you here._

So far, he'd gotten nothing. Not a word, not even her name; just the occasional flinch when his voice rose.

Her silence was really grating on his nerves. Robin was getting more and more frustrated with this girl, and he was just about to lose his patience.

The girl still gave no answer to his question.

"What is your mission here?"

The girl glanced down, tense. The only sound coming from her mouth was her slightly labored breathing.

"Who sent you?" Robin's voice was rising now. The girl shifted uncomfortably in her bonds. "Was it Slade?"

The girl let out a soft, shaky breath.

" _Where. Is. He?_ " Robin's patience was wearing thinner than paper. This had gone on long enough. The young hero slammed his hands down on the table with a _bang!_ , making the whole thing vibrate.

" _What is he planning?! TELL ME!_ " He roared.

The girl flinched, yet still set nothing. She slightly shook in her chair. A small whimper escaped from her lips, and tears leaked out from her eyes.

Robin sighed. Great. Just great. Now he _definitely_ wasn't going to get anywhere with her right now. She let out a tiny, hiccuping sound – a restrained sob.

A low, feminine voice piped up from somewhere behind him. As she was practically his right hand, Raven had been there, mostly concealed, watching the whole thing. She wasn't exactly thrilled about their prisoner's uncooperativeness either. At one point she'd even considered frightening the girl into answering, but from the girl's demeanor, she figured that would only make things worse.

The whole thing was seriously frustrating.

"Greeeeat, Robin." She drawled, irritated and exasperated. "Is this how you interrogate? Making little girls cry?" Cause seriously, the girl could be no more than, like, eleven. Besides – criticizing Robin made her feel better.

The bound girl shook, gave another quiet sob, and continued to cry.


	5. Interlude 1: A(n) (Partial) Answer

Hi there.

You see that girl there? The one sitting strapped to a chair in the interrogation room?

That’s me. And yes, I know, I know, I’m crying like a baby, but _IN MY DEFENSE_ , I had been going through a lot then.

But, first thing’s first. Let me tell you my name.

I have a lot of names. Seriously, a _whole_ lot of names.

My first name is Avari – pronounced Uh-VARR-ree.  I’m not too sure what it means, exactly. I know it’s derived from something meaning “from the heavens” or “from the sky” or something like that. I’m pretty sure it has a different one though….

My second name is Eliora – pronounced Ell-lee-ORR-uh. It’s from the Hebrew language, meaning “God is Light”.

My third name is Neris – pronounced NARE-iss. It comes from adding an “N”, a prefix for “not” or “the opposite”, to the name Eris, who is the mythical Greek goddess of chaos; so it means “harmony” or “order”.

My fourth name is Sky – we all know what that means: the big blue expanse of air above our heads. Of course, it can mean so much more than just that, depending on how you look at it.

My fifth name is Anella – pronounced Uh-NELL-uh. This one has several meanings: soothing flame; graceful beauty; soft whisper; she who is kind and pure; guiding light. Personally, the second meaning is my favorite.

My sixth name is Miranda – pronounced Mer-RAN-duh. It means “she who must be admired”

My seventh name is Jadina – pronounced Jay-DEE-nuh. It means “jewel”, “of the jewels”, or “overcoming strength”.

My eighth name is Aurora – pronounced Ah-ROAR-uh. It means “dawn”.

My last name is Willoné – pronounced Will-yoh-NAY. This surname comes from royalty, from somewhere in my ancestry.  I’m not sure if it’s from my mother’s side or my father’s side.

 My mother told me that she gave me all these names because she couldn’t decide on just one or two. And it’s true; although she hasn’t always told me the whole story, my mother has never once lied to me.

But soon I would find out that there was another reason. A more serious reason for my ridiculous number of names. One that could cost us our lives.


	6. Prologue 2: Questioning - Part 2

Two men stood side by side in the pitch black room. They stared at the large screen, its glaring glow the only source of light.  Quiet, subdued, almost muffled sounds of machinery beeped and chirped in the background, their source hidden the darkness of the large chamber.

A voice, an odd mix of roughness and sickly-sweetness, broke through the almost-silence. “Still no sign of her?”

The second man, his voice deep and gruff, answered him. “None.”

“How could that be?” The first man questioned, confused. “We had her just last night.” He added with irritation. He had had so much trouble getting that one, and now, after all the progress he’d made, she had slipped once again from his grasp.

“She must’ve found a place beyond my range of surveillance.” The second man replied dryly.

“What?” The man burst out in shock.  “I thought you had cameras everywhere, all over Jump City.”

“I do,” the second man said, “but some of them have been taken out, or fallen into disrepair.”

“Not like you to be neglectful.” The first man huffed.

“True, it’s not. But I’ve had…some recent difficulties that needed my attention. I’m sure you can understand that I would be distracted.” The second man drawled.

“Any idea where she might have gone off to?”

“The Titans.” The gruff-voiced man was quick to reply. “They were pursuing her earlier last night. I can only assume they’ve captured her.”

“Do you think they’ll get anything out of her?”

This caused the man to chuckle. “Not likely. With how… _fiery_ she is, she’ll be out and back on the streets in no time. Then you can go back to hunting down your little lab rat. After all,” he added, “you saw how quickly she escaped prison.”

“I think she might’ve had some help with that….” The strange-voiced man muttered softly to himself. Louder, he said, “Do you still want her?”

“No,” the second man answered.

The screen switched to showing a young blonde girl in a small canyon. She raised two hands in the air.

A boulder followed suit. The deep-voiced man turned his head to look at who he had come to consider his business partner. The light emanating from the screen glinted off an orange mask.

“I already have my eye on another one.”

* * *

The door slammed shut behind her.  The interrogation had – _thankfully_ – ended after she had started crying. She’d almost, _almost_ , cried more just in relief. Apparently Robin – that was the harsh boy’s name – had given up after that, figuring he wouldn’t get anything out of her anyway, and called it a day.

At least for now. No doubt they would try again sometime in the very near future, and she was _not_ looking forward to that.

Young Avari Willoné stood still, rubbing her wrists and arms where they had been cuffed. The action was almost out of habit now. It wasn’t a pleasant experience, but over the weeks, she had gotten used to being chained, cuffed, and tied up in general.

She _really_ wished it would quit.

She had stopped crying on her trip back through the halls, though her breathing was still a little unsteady. Raven had been the one to take her back. At least, she thought that was her name. The blue-cloaked girl hadn’t said anything, just silently gripped her arm – firmly, but not roughly like Robin had – and led her away. Avari couldn’t put her finger on it, but there something about her presence that had been calming to her.

It was _weird._

 She took a deep, slow breath to finish calming her nerves all the way down. She looked around the room, rubbing her arms and wrists softly as she did so. This was a different cell than the one they had put her in last night. It was still white, bland, and barely furnished, but it was bigger, and the bed looked a bit more comfortable. There was a door on the far right, slightly ajar to reveal a decently-sized bathroom. Obviously, they planned on her staying here awhile.

 _I guess it could’ve been worse,_ she thought. Her scalp itched from her unkempt hair, and she lightly scratched at it. She sighed when she noticed the gunk, mainly composed of dirt and dandruff, that had collected underneath her nails from the action.

The bathroom actually sounded like a pretty good idea right now.

Upon closer inspection, the bathroom was actually _very_ inviting. It wasn’t exactly a five-star suite, to be sure – it _was_ a cell, after all – but it was spotlessly clean, and had a shower-tub with working hot water. Which was _much_ more than she could say about the “bathrooms” at Jump City prison. Two tiny bottles, one of shampoo and one of body wash – which reminded her of the type she’d seen at hotels – sat on the edge of the tub.

 _I hope I don’t ever go back there again,_ she thought has she combed her fingers through her tangled, knot-riddled hair, wincing whenever it pulled on her scalp. The hot water raining down felt so good on her bare skin. The young girl hummed in pleasure. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d had a _real_ hot shower. Avari picked up the shampoo and squeezed a little amount into her hand, before closing the cap and setting it back down.

She worked the soap into her hair, then repeated the same process with the body wash over the rest of her. The hot water cascaded over her head, through her hair, and down her body, soothing her sore muscles and washing away the filth, along with the soap, that had nestled into her locks and coated her skin. As Avari slowly worked her fingers through her hair, many tiny, ratted knots came away in her hands, which she clumped together and set on the side of the tub to throw away later. The water on the tub floor became black with dirt, grime, and soot. The girl glanced down and grimaced at the sight.

As she continued her shower, Avari went back to her thoughts. She wasn’t sure how long they’d keep her here.

 _I guess until they think they’ve gotten all they want. Though_ that’s _never going to happen._

 It was a tricky game for her.

Sure, she’d had absolutely no desire to talk about the subject, and she was way too emotionally overwhelmed – and the nightmare the night before certainly hadn’t helped – to say anything intelligent even if she’d wanted to, but those weren’t the only reasons she had kept her silence.

She played the questions out in her mind, answering them in her head like she had earlier, during the interrogation.

Who are you? _Avari._

Where is Slade? _In his hideout. Duh._

What is he planning? _He wants a new apprentice. Besides that? Taking you out of the picture. Also duh._

But she hadn’t dared to say any of that out loud.

The safest way to play this game, she figured, was to just keep her mouth shut and not say anything. There was no telling which information could bring danger.

Avari rubbed her hands across her arms, not only to get the soap off, but also for comfort.

_Are they going to send me back?_

That was the most logical course of action, after they figured they’d gotten all they could out of her.

And this time, it wouldn’t just be Jump City prison, either. They knew she had escaped that one, and fairly easily, too. No, they would send her somewhere with far more security, where the wardens were far more brutal and strict.

No. No. She couldn’t let that happen.

She smoothed her hand through her hair, then leaned her forehead against the wet shower wall.

How had it ever come to this? Never in her wildest dreams had she imagined this would happen, that she would end up here.

Hot tears forced their way up and gathered beneath her eyelids. For a moment, she was tempted to hold them back, but no one was here but her – there was no point. So she let them go – let them fall from her eyes and mix with the rain of the shower water around her.

It was all too much – all so overwhelming.

The shower continued pattering down on her back, and she let it. It soothed her, somewhat at least – at least she could have one constant for a while.

She couldn’t go back to prison; she _could not_ let them send her there. That had been on the list of top things to avoid, and despite it coming to pass, still was. It would keep her in one place for too long, and that was dangerous.

Well, and then there was the fact that no one wants to spend their lives in that kind of place, for any amount of time. That was kind of the point of jail’s existence.

 _I’m not going back to jail. I’m NOT._ She resolved in her mind. The occurrence was imminent, and no one was going to come rescue her.

She would have to do it herself.

_I’m getting out here._

She had to escape; it was the only way.

On her way to the interrogation room that morning, she’d overheard the robot-boy – _Cyborg, was he? That’s funny, calling him what he is instead of an actual name. Aliases…._ (she mentally rolled her eyes) _–_ say that her restraints were the most fire-resistant material known to mankind.

Avari finished her shower. As she dried off with one of the towels from the rack, she looked down at her clothes piled on the floor. They were still filthy.

It wouldn’t do to put those back on like _that._

She opted to washing them out in the sink (it wasn’t as if she had anywhere to be, so there was no hurry) – which actually turned out to work pretty well – and then she dried them by having the water evaporate off of them.

Once dressed, and much, much cleaner, the young fire-maker left the bathroom and sat on the bed. Now all she could do was wait until they came for her again.

_Time to show them how fireproof their cuffs really are._

* * *

Machines whirred in the background. A screen’s glow glared in the otherwise pitch-black room.

“What? Are you going to help?”

“Let’s give them a distraction.”

* * *

It was a few hours after lunch when Robin decided they’d waited long enough and it was time to interrogate the girl again. Raven had insisted that they wait awhile, and give the girl time to calm down and recuperate.

“ _Recuperate?_ ” Robin had echoed, incredulous. “All I did was ask her questions!”

All _Raven_ had done was glare at him and turn back to the counter to finish making her herbal tea.

You _did_ make her cry,” Starfire had reminded Robin. “She was quite shaken and upset.” Starfire hadn’t been present for the whole thing, so she hadn’t actually witnessed the girl crying, but she had glimpsed the emotionally distressed girl being led down the hallways by Raven, and had then learned the entire story from her afterwards.

Cyborg and Beast Boy had been pretty quick to agree. In Robin’s opinion, the two just had wanted an excuse to play more video games – _I’m totally kicking your butt this time, Cy! You cheated last time! –_ but Raven and Star had had a good point.

And Robin had had no choice but to relent and listen to reason. Again.

Now it was 4:00 in the afternoon, 7 hours since the last interrogation. Plenty enough time, definitely.

Robin got up off the couch where he had beaten Cyborg in a car racing game for the second time in a row – which was really nothing, taking into account that an hour ago the Cyber-teen had beaten both him and Beast Boy five times in a row on that very same game – and turned to the others.

“It’s 4 o’clock,” he said. “It’s been 7 hours. I think we should try and question her again. Maybe this time she’ll be more responsive.”

Everyone murmured “alright” or variants thereof.

_BEEP! – BEEP! – BEEP! – BEEP!_

Before anyone could move, however, the alarms blared, and the room was filled with red flashing lights

The screen switched from video game scores to downtown Jump City. Plasmus had gotten loose again, and was apparently keen on eating the walls of an office building, as well as the cars in the surrounding parking lot.

“I guess it’ll have to wait.” Cyborg said.

Robin sighed. The timing just had to be that impeccable, didn’t it?

* * *

Evidently, Plasmus turned out to be in _very_ grumpy mood and wasn’t happy at all that the Titans wanted to keep him from getting his snack.

As a matter of fact, he’d rather lash out with his plasma arms and eat _them_ and cover the kids from head to toe in goo for their trouble.

Which is exactly what he did.

For no less than _an hour_.

Basically, it went like this.

Robin threw his exploding disks at the creature, which did nothing except spray goo everywhere, including on him, before Plasmus just pulled himself back together, literally.

Beast Boy ran at him as a stampeding elephant. He plowed into Plasmus, but got stuck inside him, comically wriggling his elephant hind quarters to no avail. Plasmus sucked him in all the way, then spit him out. A human Beast Boy landed on the concrete several yards away, covered in gunk.

“ _Ewww!_ ” he whined. He jumped up and down and flailed is limbs around, trying to get the stuff off of him, splattering some on Cyborg in the process.

Raven flew at Plasmus. “Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos,” she chanted, calling ripped lengths of metal to wrap about him. Plasmus was too quick. He lashed a dripping arm toward her and wrapped it around her torso. He pulled her to him, opened his mouth wide, and gulped her down, before spitting her out a second later.

She hit the pavement with a grunt. “Yuck.”

Starfire was also subject to this indignity – _twice_ – with one near miss. She finally decided to fire her starbolts from a safer distance.

After Plasmus tossed them around, gulped them down, and spit them out, he ran off to wreak havoc in the park.

The process repeated itself; on and on: in the park, the mall, a random parking garage, and _many_ other places.

Needless to say, it took way longer than usual to take Plasmus down. This sparked something in their minds – that something wasn’t normal about this, something was wrong – but they were too focused on the disturbance at hand to dwell on it more.

By the time they succeeded in knocking Plasmus out, it was nearly dark. Beast Boy and Cyborg absolutely refused to go back to the Tower without having a much-needed pizza break. That took another hour and a half, and then it was off to stop Mr. Light from robbing a load of disco balls at the local party store, which took even _more_ time. When they _did_ eventually return home, it was for long showers, large loads of laundry, and more food.

Now it was 11:00 at night. Raven was nestled on the couch, her attention focused solely on the book in her lap, and she refused to budge. Beast Boy was on the other side of the couch, sleeping and mumbling something about a giant pizza-eating sock. (This earned a weird look from Raven, who then turned back to her book.)

Cyborg was in the middle, playing a video game by himself, and Starfire was behind the kitchen counter, making who-knows-what.

So when Robin had the audacity to _dare_ to suggest they bring their prisoner out for another quick interrogation, all he got were glares, a snore, and Cyborg pointing to the videogame screen where he was about to beat a previous high score.

“Look, man, I know you’re antsy to get info about Slade,” Cyborg said. “I’m not exactly fond of the guy, either. But it’s too late now. It’s almost midnight, and the girl’s probably asleep. I don’t think you’ll be getting anything out of her now. I’m going to be getting to bed soon. You should, too.”

Robin sighed. True, he was tired. And he wasn’t about to drag the – possibly sleeping – girl out of her cell, through the halls, by _himself._ No way was he going to admit it, but he was a little afraid of her.

It would have to wait ‘til morning, then.

* * *

“It didn’t work.”

“It will.”

* * *

The sun rose over the horizon, the soft, yellow light glinting off the tall buildings of the city, creating an almost mirror-like affect. The sky turned orange, purple, and pink – awash with colors. The beautiful morning light shone down upon the Tower built on a small island, where six kids were sleeping – though not all of them could see it.

Regardless, a few hours later, all were fully ready to face the day. One of them in particular had gotten some _much_ needed rest.

Avari sat on her bed in her cell, smoothing the bed-time wildness out of her hair. Setting her hands in her lap, she looked down at them and began fiddling with her fingers.

What a relief it was that she hadn’t been called out for another interrogation yesterday. For several hours, she had been on high alert, every muscle in her body –  her mind as well– on edge, sure that at any moment, the cell door would swing open and she would be dragged out for more handcuffs and questions.

She didn’t know if she could have handled any more of that yesterday, and she knew she would still be feeling the effects of it today. She was okay now, though. With all that time to recuperate, she was calm now, and could actually think straight. Being clean helped a lot, too.

She thanked God she didn’t have any dreams last night.

As it was, the only person who had come to her cell at all was the funny-looking girl with orange hair – she wasn’t too sure of her name yet. She’d come twice, but each time was just to bring her food.

With all the craziness going on, Avari had completely forgotten about eating. At the sight of food, though, her stomach was quick to remind her. And the food here was _much_ better than what she’d been given at the Jump City jail.

But that was yesterday, and this was today.

Now, all she could do was wait.

It wasn’t long before she heard footsteps echoing down the corridor.

* * *

Robin unlocked the cell door and opened it. He found the girl on the gray-sheeted bed, just sitting there. She moved her gaze up from her lap to look at him.

She looked decidedly cleaner, Robin noticed. It looked like she’d made good use of the bathroom. Her clothes, though still stained in some places, weren’t covered in dirt and soot anymore, and her hair was longer, falling down to her shoulder blades.

Robin stepped back to let Raven in. She took a few steps into the room, fireproof handcuffs dangling from one hand.

“Come on,” she told the other girl in the cell. Surprising both of them, they didn’t have to physically drag her from cell this time. The young girl stiffly rose from the bed and walked over to Raven. The handcuffs were snapped over the brunette’s wrists, and together Raven and Robin escorted her to the interrogation room.

They sat her down and secured her arms to the chair. Robin, too, sat at the table, in the place across from her.

“Let’s try this again.” Robin said. His tone was still serious, but less harsh. He was determined to keep his temper under control this time. “What’s your name?”

The girl wasn’t shaking this time – didn’t seem scared or emotionally unsettled, but was calm.  But like last time, she didn’t answer. Nor did she look at him. She kept her gaze downward, her eyes flitting to and fro in their sockets.

Robin sighed. He tried a different question. “You’re with Slade, aren’t you?”

The girl still remained silent.

“Look, we can get this whole thing over with a lot faster if you just answer me. It’s a yes or no question. Are you with Slade, or aren’t you?”

Raven, who had taken her position from the previous interrogation, widened her eyes as she heard a voice, loud and clear, ring out in her mind.

_Howabout we just end this now?_

In that second, the room erupted in heat.

The cuffs holding the girl in place simmered and evaporated. Fire shot out from her hands, partially melting the table as she leaped over it and past Robin at lightning speed.

In the moment it took for the other inhabitants of the room to process that and blink, the door was seared off its hinges and the fire-safety sprinklers on the ceiling were going at full blast.

Oh, and the girl was gone.

A quick look at Raven, and a shake of her head confirmed that the girl was nowhere on the Tower’s grounds.

Robin’s frustrated cry could be heard clear on the other side of the building.

* * *

 

There was no time to look for her, however. Not two minutes later, the alarms blared, and they were rushing to save a blonde-haired girl from a giant black scorpion.

* * *

 

“You can’t run forever.”


End file.
